Tom Grundy's Grand Canyon 2022 Page

We originally intended to go to the Grand Canyon in 2021, but Iris hurt her knee and that put an end to those plans. This year her knee is still not 100% recovered but we decided to go anyway. Patrick had reservations for Phantom Ranch for 3 nights so we joined his crew. Iris was working and flew into LAS and I picked her up on the way to Flagstaff a few days before the trip. This made the packing a bit interesting, but I think it all worked out ok. We did our final packing in Flagstaff the day before the hiking started. Iris' pack wasn't bad, mine was around 57 lbs.

Feb 1, 2022 We got up early and headed off towards the canyon in the dark. I was a little afraid some winter weather would materialize to make this a tough drive but that didn't happen. We got to the back-country office just after 7:30 and just before Patrick did. Then we met the others (Patrick, Mikayla, Caitlynn, and Dave (2 others dropped out at the last minute - perhaps scared by the cold forecast)). We packed last minute things and put on our hiking clothes plus a warm layer on top and waited for the shuttle bus. We took the hiker shuttle to the S Kaibab Trailhead listening to the various conversations about people renting cabins and so on. Then we took a short detour to Yaki Point to check out the overlook and turn a red dot green before hiking back to the trail and putting on microspikes for the descent. I probably could have made it down the hard packed icy snow on the trail without microspikes, but they made it casual. After descending a few hundred feet I took them off and carefully walked around the rare patches of ice after that. I think everyone took them off by Ooh Aah Point. Caitlynn's knee was hurting so I got her to wear Iris' big hinged knee brace. She thought it helped, and I didn't have to carry it any more.

view down into the canyon from near the start of the S Kaibab Trail

view from near Yaki Point

panorama at Ooh Aah Point

Iris takes a pic at Ooh Aah Point

We continued down in a leisurely fashion. Not dawdling, but there were plenty of breaks. One of these was to go investigate the N face of O'Neill Butte. I scrambled up to near the start of the squeeze chimney/tunnel part. It didn't look completely crazy to continue, but there is supposed to be a scary airy mantel move at the top and it also looked like it might be a bit harder to reverse the entrance to the squeeze. Someday I hope to return with a bit of gear and a rope or 2.

panorama at Skeleton Point

S Kaibab inner gorge panorama

There is a lot of down going down into the Grand Canyon, and my pack was pretty heavy, but the reasonable pace, pretty comfy pack (Dana Designs Astralplane), frequent rests, and trekking poles made it not so bad. The mostly cloudy weather probably helped a bit too, although it might not have helped the photos. Once we made it to the bottom we took the site with a little shade structure and set up our camps. David was testing out his ultralight setup he planned to use for the PCT later this year. Iris and I had a Nemo Hornet 2P tent plus 2 bags zipped together rated for ~25 degrees and 2 thermarest pads - one more insulated than the other. The 3 of us were cooking our meals and the others were getting food from Phantom Ranch - something that would have been a lot nicer with the cold if they had indoor dining. Fortunately for us we got a few leftovers to add to our mix of sandwiches, dehydrated meals, and snacks.

Iris really enjoyed the Good 2 Go bibimbap

That night we mostly sat around talking. I tried to take some star pics aided by a new moon. I only took a few though. It was pretty cold and we retreated to our sleeping insulation. Unfortunately the inflatable pads were not the quietest and Iris even thought there was distant thunder at one point.

Feb 2, 2022 We got up around 7 as the crew went to Phantom Ranch for breakfast. We had oatmeal and some sort of hot beverage every morning. Plus in many cases some leftover eggs and sausage and or pancakes. We sat around gradually packing and waiting as the sun slowly creeped down the campground towards our site - just when it got there the shade of another ridge started blocking it - I don't think our site got any direct sun all day. This would have been frustrating for my solar charging plans, but there were outlets in the bathroom, so we were able to get electricity that way. One thing led to another and it was nearly 11 am by the time we left camp. We hiked up the Clear Creek trail with stops to scramble up a little peak overlooking Phantom Ranch and then another overlooking the boat launch area. This one had pretty nice views and I scrambled to put on my telephoto lens to take pics of a raft and some kayaks going through a little rapid. Then I switched back to my 14mm lens that I mostly left on the camera this trip.

We continued on up the trail past the "great unconformity" where something like a billion years of geologic strata has been eroded away between the ancient basement Vishnu Schist and Zoroaster Granite and the Tapeats Sandstone. We followed the semi-bench along this level until there was a gap to pass up onto the Tonto Platform. There we went back downstream above where we had been taking pics and enjoying the view. There was an old benchmark from 1936 complete with the date written in rocks on the ground. During our late lunch break Iris and I did an improvised tutu 2-high in honor of the 2-2-22 date. Then we headed back the way we came - with the goal of making it back in time for 5 pm dinner.

two high in mock tutus on 2-2-2022

I play around jumping with the poles (Iris took the pic)

inner gorge panorama from the plateau rim - Sumner Butte and Zoroaster Temple are above and right of my shadow

view upstream from the silver bridge close to sunset
on the left in the shade is the boat overlook where I left my lens up and right of that in the sun
is the overlook we went to up and right of that is Sumner Butte and right of that is Zoroaster Temple

view downstream from the silver bridge close to sunset

That night there was more sitting around talking, plus a few more attempts at night pics. I wore my puffy pants to sleep, which helped keep me warm as the temps definitely dropped below freezing.

Feb 3, 2022. We got a much quicker start this morning, although I realized that I didn't have my telephoto lens and must have left it somewhere on the hike the day before - most likely at the boat landing overlook spot where I used it last. Fortunately this was a little bit off the trail so it was unlikely anyone else would find it, unfortunately it was a bit of a hike to get to.

We hiked up the N Kaibab trail through the narrows and over some bridges to Ribbon Falls. Sometime relatively recently there had been a flood through here with evidence in the trees and on the banks. The bridge to Ribbon Falls was out so we had to rock-hop across the creek. Ribbon Falls was pretty impressive with some icicles and ice covered plants and moss around it. We took a bunch of pics from various places and ate lunch. As the shade covered the base of the falls the temperature plummeted and we headed back. At some point on the return Caitlynn took a break for her knee and I gave Iris my extra water and headed on ahead to go get my lens. The hike up to it wasn't as far as I feared and once I traversed out to the peak I didn't see my lens on top. Fortunately it was just a little farther closer to the overlook point just sitting there. I took a bunch more pics and then headed back.

ice on plants by Ribbon Falls

Ribbon Falls once it went into the shade

the trail back

another of the trail

one of the bridges

my lens sitting where I left it

broken heart shaped cactus pad I saw on the ground

We had 2 batches of ramen with all sorts of additions for dinner. That night Iris filled out her Canyon Explorer workbook - a fairly involved workbook for kids to get a Canyon Explorer patch. This was also the coldest night yet, but warm enough with marginally warm enough sleeping bags and a few exra layers.

Mikayla finishing up one of the boxed wine bags
that's how we rolled (or at least some of us)

Feb 4, 2021. Today we had to hike out. This was going to be an all day sort of thing. We packed up and loaded our packs - a much easier task since we had eaten most of our food. I also didn't carry very much water counting on the cool weather and availability of water at Indian Gardens to get us out. There was a helicopter taking off as we left - they were working on the water/sewage system? The hike downriver was a little slow with a sandy trail but all too soon we left the river and started uphill. Once again we moved along steadily - trekking poles were our friends and made it to Indian Gardens for lunch. There we kept a wary eye on the brazen squirrels trying to eat our lunch and anything else while taking a break and getting a bit more water. Above here Caitlynn's knee was really hurting so we did some pack swapping around. At one point Iris was wearing her pack, but that was a bit too much for her knee too. We scoped out the approach to the Battleship - a butte on the way up, but just kept plugging along with stops at the rest stations to rest and eat a bit. We put on microspikes at the 1.5 mile rest house and they were helpful for pretty much the rest of the hike out, although there were only a few places that were really icy, there was a lot of hard packed snow that was casual with the microspikes and would not have been casual without them. Somewhere along here Iris really caught her stride - I think it was partly due to the fact that the trail was more of a steady ramp here so she could take quick steps instead of being forced to take the big waterbar stair steps on other parts of the trail. In any case she forged ahead and made it out first. Up on top we were in the sun again. I jogged (very stiffly) over to the outdoor center and picked up my truck. By the time I got back the others were on top too. We re-arranged and loaded up the vehicles and then departed. The others to home and flights out of Vegas, and we went to Flagstaff.

helicopter at Phantom Ranch

zoomed in on helicopter at Phantom Ranch no tail rotor makes it quieter

a ground squirrel tries to steal my lunch or maybe eat me

Iris pointing to The Battleship

icicles high on the Bright Angel Trail

microspikes and trekking poles made the ice much easier

4 of the crew hiking out below

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